Academy’s Sensory Circuits go from strength to strength

Specialist Child and Adolescent Occupational Therapist Vivian Leonard from Isebrook SEN College recently visited our Academy to look at the Sensory Circuits used in the Unit Provision.

Students in the Unit take part in Sensory Circuits each morning to regulate their sensory needs. A typical circuit may include activities such as running, balancing on a therapy ball, going through a tunnel and completing push-ups against a wall.

The first part of the circuit is about waking students up, getting rid of some of their energy and making them more alert. The next section of the circuit is based on organising skills which requires students to make the left and right side of the brain connect. The circuit ends with an activity that calms the students ready for learning.

Unit Teacher Clare Judge who runs the programme at Corby Business Academy said: We put Sensory Circuits in place for our students to regulate their sensory needs which increases their readiness to learn and therefore maximises their learning potential. We have students with a wide ramge of sensory impairments from autism to down syndrome. Sensory Circuits benefit the vestibular and proprioceptive systems helping the students to regulate their bodies and feel in control and ready to learn.

Vivian Leonard said: Students with sensory differences who attend Corby Business Academy are ensured their sensory needs are met. The Specialist Provision staff are able to support students in the least intrusive ways by incorporating specialist intervention into the school timetable. The wellbeing of these students is paramount and evidenced in the settled nature of the students. Alternative methods of delivering education are observed with student differences considered in lesson planning. The early morning Sensory Circuits ensure the students attending are regulated before starting their day and are all are observed benefitting from this activity. The Specialist Provision is warm and welcoming and has a culture of caring and ‘can do’. The provision goes from strength to strength.’